Format: Hardcover, 496 pages
Release Date: July 11, 2017
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
The sides have been chosen and the battle lines drawn.The war that has been brewing for centuries is finally imminent. But the scales are tipped. Echo might hold the power to face the darkness within the Dragon Prince, but she has far to go to master its overwhelming force. And now she’s plagued by uncertainty. With Caius no longer by her side, she doesn’t know if she can do it alone. Is she strong enough to save her home and the people she loves?
Echo awakened the Firebird. Now she is the only one with the power to face the darkness she unwittingly unleashed . . . right into the waiting hands of Tanith, the new Dragon Prince. Tanith has one goal in mind: destroy her enemies, raze their lands, and reign supreme in a new era where the Drakharin are almighty and the Avicen are nothing but a memory.
Whether Echo is ready to face this evil is not the question. The war has begun, and there is no looking back. There are only two outcomes possible: triumph or death.
The Savage Dawn, by author Melissa Grey, is the third and final installment in the author's The Girl at Midnight trilogy. As the story picks up, Echo is fearful for the safety of Caius who was taken by his sister Tanith. The same Tanith who dethroned him as Dragon Prince, and also allowed the dangerous darkness known as Kucedra to enter her body. Echo has been hearing about the fated Firebird prophecy from Ala, the Avicen who saved her, since she stabbed herself in the heart, and became it's vassal. But, Echo disrupted the balance when she welcomed the Firebird into herself, and into the world, and now the world is in deep trouble.
Even though there's clearly a whole lot of blame to go around, Echo is taking much of the blame on herself for what happened to the Avicen nest and also at Avalon Castle where she failed to stop Tanith. She's showing signs of uncertainty in how she is supposed to save the world from the Kucedra who she is supposed to offset with her light. After Echo's fight with Tanith, there are now issues with getting around, and there are holes in the very fabric of the world. This makes things really interesting when Echo & Darian try to rescue Caius along with Jasper who I'm still not impressed with. I do have to say that I loved Echo's growth. She's found a family who respects her, even though she is a human, and a thief, and rallies around her when the chips are down.
I have to say that I am happy that Rowan has become another character altogether. He doesn't mope around and get jealous over idiocy when the world is about to be torn apart. He is Echo's friend no matter what, and friends stick with each other even through disagreements. The other character I have loved from the beginning is Ivy. She is a pure of heart, and pure of soul character. She is a healer who works her ass off to save both her own people, and the humans affected by the Kucedra's darkness. She also believes in people though they sometimes need a quick kick in the ass.
Grey really impressed me with her Tomb Raider like scenes with Echo & Dorian & Jasper following a rather brilliantly built trail where death is imminent at every turn. Plus, did I mention the brilliant appearance of a freaking Dragon? Readers of this series have known that Grey would finally go full bore and bring out the battle between good and evil. For this to happen, Echo and her allies have to save NYC from Tanith and her shadow monsters. Unfortunately, I'm very sad, again, at how this book ends. I said as much after reading Our Dark Duet. It's my choice as a reader not to feel happy when things don't go the way I believed they should have. Especially with all the heart aches that Echo has had to suffer through from the beginning of the series. Perhaps the only real down fall of this whole final story.
